Walker Leadership Scholar Blog

Applicant Recruitment: Laura-Jane Baker-Straw

January is always an exciting month for the Walker Scholars, as it is the time of
year when we recruit applicants for the next year! During that process, our beloved
donor, Donna Walker, joins us in person to help aid in the process. One of my favorite
parts of the program is having the opportunity to have dinner with Donna and her mother,
Mrs. Jeanette Walker, along with Mrs. Kathy and the rest of the scholars. We all bring
different ideas, interests, and passions to the table and have great discussions about
the future of the program, the future of the profession and how we can be exemplary
leaders not only in our profession but also in health care. A table full of creative
minds is certainly a roundtable discussion I love being a part of! During our evening,
Taylor and I nominated each other and were selected by a unanimous vote that we would
be the inaugural co-presidents of the Walker Leadership Scholars Alumni Foundation
and were tasked with planning an event of all current and future scholars in the year
2020. We are excited to see how the program grows and implements change in our nation.
I always leave any conversation with Donna feeling not only incredibly blessed for
the opportunity of a lifetime that she has gifted me, but also inspired and empowered
to go and do. We look forward to the application process and adding more scholars
to our program!

Donna Speaks to P1 Class: Anna Todd

The spring 2018 semester has been off to a busy and fast start! The Walker Leadership
Scholars were so happy to welcome Donna Walker back to the College of Pharmacy a couple
weeks ago to speak to the P1 class and discuss our individual and team goals for the
semester. The entire P1 class was in attendance to hear Mrs. Walker’s background in
pharmacy and leadership. At the end of the presentation, each of the scholars shared
one specific event or opportunity that the program provided us within the last year
that we felt has given us the most leadership growth and insight. This was a great
way for us to relate to the P1s and share with them how many opportunities for growth
lies ahead in their pharmacy careers.After the presentation, the entire committee
met for lunch to discuss the upcoming semester and future plans for the program. These
meetings are always special and one of my favorite parts of the semester since we
only have the entire committee together a couple times each year. This semester, each
scholar chose a specific task to take ownership of to facilitate organization and
individual growth within the program. It was so great to speak with Mrs. Walker in
person and have her as a source of guidance and mentorship throughout the program.Looking
forward to the rest of the semester, I am excited about attending the PLS Conference
in Charleston and APhA annual meeting in Nashville. Additionally, we have begun the
process of choosing our next two Walker Leadership Scholars following Mrs. Walker’s
visit earlier this month. I am looking forward to seeing what additional opportunities
lie ahead for us as we close out the school year!

Getting the Residency: Taylor & Laura Jane

This month, Laura Jane and I took our first steps toward achieving one of the goals
we set at the beginning of our time in this program: attaining a PGY1 pharmacy residency.
We always felt that we worked well as a team due to the fact that we had similar long
term goals, and we grew closer as we worked together in this program due to our interests. I
have always been passionate about patient care, and through my clinical rotations
this year, that passion has been reaffirmed, and I have discovered a love of pediatrics.
While Laura Jane has always been interested in inpatient acute care residencies, she
realized over the course of this year that she enjoys a more longstanding relationship
with the patient. Through the mentorship of Ms. Walker and other individuals she met
throughout the course of the program, she was able to reflect on her pharmacy experiences
and determine her true passion: ambulatory care.
We began the month of December with a trip to ASHP's Clinical Midyear Meeting, where
we both presented the results of our research. My research revealed the results of
a project I have worked on throughout pharmacy school about the patient perception
of community pharmacy and the job responsibilities of the employees who work to fill
their prescriptions. Laura Jane's research focuses on a more clinical aspect of pharmacy
and looks at the effects of capped heparin dosing on time to therapeutic aPTTs in
the treatment of VTEs.
While there, we also had the opportunity to attend the residency showcase and ask
questions of residents and program directors. Our time in the Walker Leadership Scholars
program prepared us well for this environment, and we felt well prepared to start
a conversation with everyone at the residency booths. We were able to ask questions
and make judgments about which residency programs would be the best fit for us based
on these conversations. I had my first off month during the month of December, and
I spent the remainder of the month preparing my applications. I applied to nine residency
programs, six of which have a pediatric focus and three of which offer a general background
in both adult and pediatric medicine. Laura Jane applied to eight programs, all of
which were ambulatory care focused. We both also focused on programs that offer a
strong teaching certificate program, as our time in the Walker Leadership Scholars
Program taught us both the importance of mentorship. We both hope that in the future
we will be able to contribute not only to this program as alumni, but also to other
schools of pharmacy to help encourage young pharmacy leaders to pursue leadership
training. We are now working on developing patience, and we are excited to see where
we will embark on our first year of post graduate pharmacy training!